HomeMy WebLinkAbout9.a. Approval of Private Streets Acceptance Policy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
City CouncilMeeting:May 3, 2016
AGENDA ITEM:Approval of Private StreetsAcceptance AGENDA SECTION:
PolicyNew Business
PREPARED BY:Kim Lindquist, Community Development
AGENDA NO. 9.a.
Director, Patrick Wrase, City Engineer
ATTACHMENTS:Draft Policy, April 11, 2016 Work Session
Packet and Minutes, October 20, 2015 Work Session Packet
APPROVED BY: ddj
and Minutes, City Attorney Information
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Motion to Adopt Policy Relating to AcceptingPrivate Streets
into the City Street System
SUMMARY
For some time, the Council has discussed whether under certain circumstances it would be acceptable to
take over private roads. The discussion was precipitated by the Westport neighborhood which is a single
family development carved out of the original small lot, detached townhouse Crosscroft neighborhood.
Upon discussion with the Council, staff provided a draft policy suggesting when the City would consider
taking over private roads as public. The intent is to identify under what circumstances the City would
consider taking over the roads, without adversely subjecting the public to significant costs associated with
the transfer. The policy has been modified based upon discussions at the April Council Work Session. The
changes remove the previous requirement relating to maintenance in non-traditional methods because of
other private street locations. An additional requirement was added that the City will only consider taking
over a private street in a neighborhood that provides access to single family detached housing.
Staff supports adoption of a policy as we have over the years fielded questions about the City taking over
private streets. The vast majority of the private streets in town are in neighborhoods where there are
attached residential products and the Homeowners Association (HOA) is in place for a variety of
maintenance related reasons. Often maintenance and upkeep of the private road is just one of the purposes
of the HOA and therefore the HOA would still be in effect and dues paid for other neighborhood upkeep.
Other criteria, beside the requirement about single family housing units also means that most, if not all
current private roads in the City, would be poor candidates for future public take over.
RECOMMENDATION
Motion to Adopt the Policy
CITY OF ROSEMOUNT
POLICY RELATING TO ACCEPTING PRIVATE
STREETS INTO CITY STREET SYSTEM
Purpose
The City Council of the City of Rosemount (City) desires to establish its position on considering the
acceptance of existing private streets into the City street system.
Background
The City has several miles of privately owned streets for which the City provides no maintenance
services. Periodically, the private street associations (HOAs), inquire
about the possibility of having the City assume ownership and ongoing maintenance of their private
streets. This policy defines the conditions under which the City Council will consider accepting private
streets into the City system.
Policy
1.To be considered for acceptance by the City as a Public street, the private street must meet the
following minimum requirements:
a)Basic Requirements
a)Accepting the streets must serve a public purpose.
b)The private street must be accessible from an adjoining public street.
c)The private street must be capable of allowing for City maintenance activities to
occur without the necessity of operating maintenance equipment on other
private streets or in non-standard methods, such as having to back up a plow
truck to avoid traveling on to a private street
d)c)Each adjacent dwelling unit must be on its own legal parcel or have a separate
property identification number (PIN).
e)d)The private street was approved as part of the City subdivision approval
process. Driveways or common drives will not be considered as private streets.
f)e)The minimum right-of-way required to be established and dedicated to the City
is 60 feet centered over the street
f)Structure setback must meet the ordinance required setbacks; the City will not
grant variances to properties that do not meet the ordinance requirements. In
traditional single family districts the setback is 30 feet from the right of way line.
g)The private street must serve single family detached housing.
b)Design Requirements
a)The private street must have a minimum width of 32 feet in single family
residential areas and 28 feet in multifamily areas
b)The private street must be constructed with pavement and subgrade sections
equivalent to the current city design standard, that bei
material.
c)The pavement condition of the private street must have a Pavement Condition
Index (PCI) of 75 or greater as determined by the City Engineer
d)Sidewalks must be in place according to city standard.
e)
f)Private storm sewer serving the public street, including ponds will need to be in
compliance with city standards.
2.An agreement, provided by the City and in the format, must be approved by the majority
percentage specified in association documents to give public ownership or
easement, The agreement must include all private streets which are the responsibility of an HOA.
A copy of the agreement is attached hereto and made a part of this policy.
3. Upon receipt of the agreement, the City will perform an Basic Engineering Study on the private
streets, examining the private street under consideration for conformance with the policy stated
Basic Rminimum requirements, and identifying condition, maintenance, and safety issues. The
cost of the Basic Engineering Study shall be the responsibility if the HOA.
4. If the Basic Engineering Study indicates that the Private streets cannot meet the Basic
requirements due to ROW or setback issues, the analysis will be suspended and the private
street will be deemed not suitable for acceptance.
5. If the Basic Engineering Study indicates that the private streets meet all of the basic
requirements, a Design Engineering Study will proceed to examine the details of the existing
design. This will include a review of the original and as-build construction documents, site
surveying and measurements and subsurface geotechnical investigations, and pavement
condition analysis as required by the City Engineer. The cost of the Basic Design Engineering
Study shall be the responsibility if the HOA
6. If the Design Engineering Study indicates that the Private streets meet all of the Ddesign
requirements the private street can be considered for Final acceptance.
7. If the Design Engineering Study indicates that the private street cannot meet the Ddesign
requirements, the private street will require reconstruction prior to acceptance. The street can be
considered for Preliminary acceptance at this time.
8. At the time of preliminary acceptance of the private street into the City system, the type of
reconstruction project to be administered shall be determined as follow:
a. For Streets requiring reconstruction a Mill and Overlay due to PCI less than 75 and
greater than 35, but meeting all other Design Requirements,
a) The street must be milled and overlayed according to the specification of the
City Engineer
b) The Homeowners pay 100% of the total cost of the mill and overlay project;
b. For Streets requiring reconstruction due to a PCI rating less than 35, an inadequate
street width, or pavement and subgrade section not equivalent or greater than the city
standards, or any other upgrades necessary to meet city design standards,
a) The street must be completely reconstructed on order to achieve all required
City Design Requirements
b) The Homeowners pay 100% of the total Reconstruction project cost
9. The HOA must, by the vote as specified in the HOA documents, grant an easement or fee title for
the right-of-way without cost to the City, free and clear of any encumbrances.
10. When accepting a private street as a public street, no special consideration for maintenance ( i.e.
snow removal), will be given priority over public street maintenance policies and procedures.
11. The City Council' s final action to accept a private street as a public street shall be a combined
action including:
a) Accepting the easements or right of way dedication
b) Adopting the assessments for street and utility reconstruction.
c) Accepting the street.
d) Awarding a contract for street and utility reconstruction.
12. The final action will occur after all required public hearings for assessments with notification to
property owners.
CITY OF ROSEMOUNT
POLICY RELATING TO ACCEPTING PRIVATE
STREETS INTO CITY STREET SYSTEM
Purpose
The City Council of the City of Rosemount (City) desires to establish its position on considering the
acceptance of existing private streets into the City street system.
Background
The City has several miles of privately owned streets for which the City provides no maintenance
services. Periodically, the private street associations (HOAs), inquire
about the possibility of having the City assume ownership and ongoing maintenance of their private
streets. This policy defines the conditions under which the City Council will consider accepting private
streets into the City system.
Policy
1.To be considered for acceptance by the City as a Public street, the private street must meet the
following minimum requirements:
a)Basic Requirements
a)Accepting the streets must serve a public purpose.
b)The private street must be accessible from an adjoining public street.
c)Each adjacent dwelling unit must be on its own legal parcel or have a separate
property identification number (PIN).
d)The private street was approved as part of the City subdivision approval
process. Driveways or common drives will not be considered as private streets.
e)The minimum right-of-way required to be established and dedicated to the City
is 60 feet centered over the street
f)Structure setback must meet the ordinance required setbacks; the City will not
grant variances to properties that do not meet the ordinance requirements. In
traditional single family districts the setback is 30 feet from the right of way line.
g)The private street must serve single family detached housing.
b)Design Requirements
a)The private street must have a minimum width of 32 feet in single family
residential areas and 28 feet in multifamily areas
b)The private street must be constructed with pavement and subgrade sections
equivalent to the current city design standard, that bei
material.
c)The pavement condition of the private street must have a Pavement Condition
Index (PCI) of 75 or greater as determined by the City Engineer
d)Sidewalks must be in place according to city standard.
e)
f)Private storm sewer serving the public street, including ponds will need to be in
compliance with city standards.
2.An agreement, provided by the City and in the format, must be approved by the majority
percentage specified in association documents to give public ownership or
easement. The agreement must include all private streets which are the responsibility of an HOA.
A copy of the agreement is attached hereto and made a part of this policy.
3.Upon receipt of the agreement, the City will perform an Basic Engineering Study on the private
streets, examining the private street under consideration for conformance with the policy stated
Basic Requirements, and identifying condition, maintenance, and safety issues. The cost of the
Basic Engineering Study shall be the responsibility if the HOA.
4. If the Basic Engineering Study indicates that the Private streets cannot meet the Basic
requirements due to ROW or setback issues, the analysis will be suspended and the private
street will be deemed not suitable for acceptance.
5. If the Basic Engineering Study indicates that the private streets meet all of the basic
requirements, a Design Engineering Study will proceed to examine the details of the existing
design. This will include a review of the original and as-build construction documents, site
surveying and measurements and subsurface geotechnical investigations, and pavement
condition analysis as required by the City Engineer. The cost of the Design Engineering Study
shall be the responsibility if the HOA
6. If the Design Engineering Study indicates that the Private streets meet all of the Design
requirements the private street can be considered for Final acceptance.
7. If the Design Engineering Study indicates that the private street cannot meet the Design
requirements, the private street will require reconstruction prior to acceptance. The street can be
considered for Preliminary acceptance at this time.
8. At the time of preliminary acceptance of the private street into the City system, the type of
reconstruction project to be administered shall be determined as follow:
a. For Streets requiring a Mill and Overlay due to PCI less than 75 and greater than 35, but
meeting all other Design Requirements,
a) The street must be milled and overlayed according to the specification of the
City Engineer
b) The Homeowners pay 100% of the total cost of the mill and overlay project;
b. For Streets requiring reconstruction due to a PCI rating less than 35, an inadequate
street width, pavement and subgrade section not equivalent or greater than the city
standards, or any other upgrades necessary to meet city design standards,
a) The street must be completely reconstructed on order to achieve all required
City Design Requirements
b) The Homeowners pay 100% of the total Reconstruction project cost
9. The HOA must, by the vote as specified in the HOA documents, grant an easement or fee title for
the right-of-way without cost to the City, free and clear of any encumbrances.
10. When accepting a private street as a public street, no special consideration for maintenance ( i.e.
snow removal), will be given priority over public street maintenance policies and procedures.
11. The City Council' s final action to accept a private street as a public street shall be a combined
action including:
a) Accepting the easements or right of way dedication
b) Adopting the assessments for street and utility reconstruction.
c) Accepting the street.
d) Awarding a contract for street and utility reconstruction.
12. The final action will occur after all required public hearings for assessments with notification to
property owners.
Excerpt from the April 11, 2016 City Council Work Session Minutes
2.b. Private Streets Policy
Community Development Director Lindquist gave a brief overview on earlier discussions regarding
a Private Streets Policy, which outlines the process through which City could take ownership of a
. There is one neighborhood that is
interested, depending on what the final policy decision is. Staff had drafted the policy last year that
outlines various standards for road construction, requirements for right-of-ways, etc., but the policy
has not yet been adopted.
Staff again is asking whether the Council would like to adopt the policy as drafted, adopt the policy
with amendments, or continue without a policy. Council members and staff discussed the difficulties
of maintaining roads that do not meet the conditions outlined in the draft policy, the costs of
implementing the policy, and which streets in the city might qualify. The policy states that all
expenses would be picked up by the homeowners who make the request. Ms. Lindquist stated that
the City gets a number of this type of request.
Council member Nelson stated he would want the policy to state it is only allowed for single-family
homes.
Council member DeBettignies asked if the streets had been graded by staff to gauge to their
condition. Mr. Wrase stated that according to the road plans, they are built to City standards, but
they have not been graded. Mr. Wrase stated that the roads are only 10 years old. A resident of
Westport neighborhood stated they had been seal-coated recently. Another resident of Westport
noted the roads have very little traffic and the neighborhood has a single refuse hauler.
Council members were generally supportive of the policy with modifications; including single family
home requirement and language to resolve road-throughput issue at Westport.
Staff will bring a modified policy to the Council in early May.